Switch-shifter.



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Patented May 8, 1917.

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APPLICATION FILED MAY 23. I9I6. LQQA.,

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A.. Mcvev, SWITCH SHIFTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 23 |916.

Lgo Y u Patented May 8,1917.

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MJ Ambrose McVe g YM @y /I TTUHA/EYS nu: 'mmms rs1-sns m. rnomumawasmucmu. u. c.

AMBBOSE MCVEY, 0F WILMINGTON, DELAWARE.

SWITCH-SHIFTER.

Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented May 8, 1217..

Application led May 23, 1916. Serial No. 99,305.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that 1, AMBRosn Movin?, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Y'Vilmington, in the county of Newcastle and State of Delaware, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Switch-Shifters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to means for switching street railway cars, and is based upon matter shown and described in Letters Patent No. 1,154,526, issued to me on the 21st day of September, 1915; the main object thereof is to provide a device which will accomplish this result from the front platform of a car and be under the control of the motorman; a further object is to provide such a device which is normally out of operative position, but which may be placed in operative position by the motormans foot; a further object is to provide al foot pedal whereby the niotorman may, at will, throw a switch to the right or to the left; and further objects are to provide such devices which are simple in construction and use, readily installed, composed of few parts not likely to get out of order to require repair, and comparatively inexpensive.

My invention is fully described in the following specification, of which the accompanying drawings form a part, in which like reference characters are used to designate like parts in each of the views, and in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the front platform of a surface car provided with my invention, partly in section, and also showing the track apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a plan view, taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1, of the mechanism for one rail of a railway;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view, in plan, of the track apparatus, with the covers removed; and

Fig. 4 is a section taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 3.

In the drawings forming a part of this application I have shown a present preferred form of embodiment of my invention, comprising a section of a car 5 having a platform 6 for the moto-rman, the car apparatus 7, and the track apparatus 8 and 9.

Slidably mounted in suitable hangers beneath the platform G is a transverse shaft 10 upon which is secured a frame 11 carrying counterweights 12, a spring 13 for maintaining the same in approximately horizontal position, a foot pedal 14 for depressing the saine, and a roller 15 at the lower, forward, end thereof. Pivoted beneath the platform 6, at 16, is a lever 17 which carries a foot pedal 18 at the forward end thereof operable .in a slot 19 in said platform, and the rear end of which is pivotally connected with a pin 20 secured on the shaft 10, movement of said pedal 18 in either direction sliding the said shaft and frame in a corresponding direction.

In Figs. 1 and 2 l have shown a guide rail 21 arranged between the railway rails, preferably centrally thereof, which is branched by means of a centrai partition 22 into two passages 23 and 24, the floor of the guide rail being depressed in the positions of said passages, as shown at 23, Fig. 1, and in each of these depressions is a dog 26 and 27, respectively, pivoted on a rod 28 in a box or housing 29 buried below the surface of the railway, each dog carrying an arm 30 and 31, respectively, in turn connected pivotally, with corresponding rods 32 and 33 which are forwardly eX- tended through a conduit 34 into a casing 35 and pivotally connected with corresponding bell-crank levers 36 and 37 in turn pivoted at 38 and 39, respectively, within the casing 35.

Pivoted at 40, in said casing 35, between the pivots 38 and 39, is a lever 41 provided with oppositely directed arms 42 and 43, and with a forwardly directed, slotted portion 44, having a pin 45 slidable therein and carried by a rod 46 in pivotal connection with the switch 47 of the rails` 48, only one rail with its branch and switch being illustrated, although the arrangement shown may be duplicated at the opposite side of the railway at any point for switching the car to the left instead of to the right as illustrated.

As the car approaches a switch, the guide rail 21 being provided for a predetermined distance before a switch is reached, the motorman depresses the pedal 14 whereby the roller 15 bears on the guide rail 21; assuming that he does not want to take the switch but go right along on the main track, he then forces the pedal 18 to the right which has the effect of moving the roller 15 to the left to enter the passage 23, and in which passage he strikes the dog 26 which, being forced downwardly by the roller 15, moves the bell-crank 36 rearwardly and inwardly, thereby striking the arm 42 of the lever 41 and forcing this lever to the right, and, through the medium of the rody 46, also moving the switch t7 to the right, and the main line is open.

Had the parts been in this position, the motorman would have continued on witlout touching the pedals referred to. unless he desired to take the switch, in which event the foregoing operation would have been performed, with the difference, however, that he would have slid the frame 1l and roller l5 to the right, and this would have actuated the dog Q7 and bell-crank 37 to throw the lever il and switch to the left, and the car would then leave the main line.

It will thus be seen that the switching` of a car is directly under the control of the motorman, and, While I have illustrated but one switch, it will be obvious that the same apparatus may be applied to any number of switches, and on either side of the car, and the car apparatus is only actuated when the motorman sees that the switch is not properly set.

While I have shown certain structural details, it will be evident that I am not limited thereto, but may make changes thereover, within the scope of the following claims, without departing from the spirit of my invention, or sacrificing its advantages.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:-

l. rIhe combination with a movable switch in a railway track, of a transversely slidable frame carried by a car, a roller carried by said frame and normally held in' raised position, means for forcing said roller toward the track, a horizontally arranged lever pivoted to said car and in operative connection at one end with said frame, foot actuated means on the other lever end for swinging said lever to move said frame and roller transversely of the track, and track means in' the path of the roller for actuating said switch.

2. The combination with a movable switch in a railway track, of a transversely slidable rod carried by a car, aframe carried by said rod, a roller carried by said frame and normally held in raised position,

foot actuated means for forcing said roller toward the track, foot actuated means for moving said rod, frame, and roller transversely of the car, and track means in the path of the roller for actuating said switch. In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

AMBROSE MGVEY. Witnesses THOMAS S. Lewis, HARVEY C. FENIMORE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

